Seven Times Out of Eight
by silvermoonstone23
Summary: Seven times out of eight, Suguha won't admit anything. {Recon x Leafa / Shinichi x Suguha one-shot}


_And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid—  
I think it's strange that you think I'm funny, 'cause he never did.  
I've been spending the last eight months thinking all love ever does  
Is break, and burn, and end…  
But on a Wednesday, in a café,  
I watched it begin again._

* * *

He still stands by what he said. He still likes her. She still hasn't given him a proper reply. He knows she had feelings for Kirito before, but what about now?

He asks her. "Do you like me?"

She says nothing, avoiding his gaze.

He sighs. She probably pities him. "You can answer later."

* * *

She starts acting funny, and that's Kirito's first clue.

She's jumpy. He says her name, and she squeaks and whirls around, telling him to stop scaring her.

She's distracted. He asks her questions, and she just stares off into space, only turning to him when he pokes her. "Eh? You said something?"

And above all, she's defensive. "You and Recon sure are an interesting team,"he observes one day in ALO.

"W-what does that mean?!"she sputters.

He raises an eyebrow. "I only mean that you two have been fighting an awful lot together."

She sighs in what seems like relief. "Oh. Right."

He grins. "Sugu, are you not telling me something?"

"No, no!"She waves her hands.

He brings it to Asuna's attention, having no idea how to deal with it himself.

* * *

Asuna feels fully confident that she'll be able to help. After all, Suguha must need to talk to someone at some point.

"How's your school, Leafa-chan?" Asuna asks one day, still in the habit of calling people by their game-names.

Suguha doesn't seem to mind. "It's fine. Nothing noteworthy happens. Although…"

"What is it?" Asuna tries to hide the girlish excitement in her voice. The idea of little Sugu having a crush is just too sweet.

"…I have this horrible exam coming up!" Suguha finishes, slamming her fist against her other palm in frustration.

Asuna decides she's not close enough to the situation and passes the quest on to Liz and Silica.

* * *

Silica meets up with Suguha in the real world, knowing that this is a delicate situation. As a fellow young maiden, she could understand the trials of the heart.

They eat lunch together in a park, sitting side-by-side on a bench in silence. Suguha doesn't seem nearly as tense as Silica.

"S-so!" the young beast tamer spluttered. "H-have you thought about Valentine's Day?" She mentally smacks herself. Could she have put it any more obviously?

Suguha tilted her head to the side questioningly. "That's more than two weeks away still, isn't it?"

"S-so? It's coming up!"

Suguha considers it. "You're right. I'll have to plan out the chocolates I make. I suppose I should give some to you and Liz and all my other friends." Smiling and clueless, she eats some more from her bento.

Silica wishes Liz much luck.

* * *

The two of them are alone in Liz's blacksmith shop in ALO when she bursts out, "Do you like Recon?"

Suguha straightens, eyes wide. "W-what makes you think that?"

She and Liz have sort of an unspoken connection over the fact that they both liked Kirito before. Sure, Silica might have had a little crush on him as well, but it wasn't nearly as bad. And Liz knows that no amount of talking in circles will get a girl to admit something she doesn't want to, so she tries a direct approach.

Liz is just congratulating herself for her wit, for this seems to be the closest Suguha has been to spilling the beans so far, when the young girl goes on, "Shinichi— Recon actually told me he liked me." She smiled sheepishly. "Of course, I punched him and he went flying down the stone stairs at the base of the World Tree…"

Liz had known that Suguha was a tough girl, but she hadn't expected _that. _"Oh," is all she can get out before Suguha remembers that she has to write a paper for school and leaves the shop.

* * *

Suguha sits alone, and her mind wanders to it. She imagines a million different scenes, a million different possibilities. It makes her happy, to think maybe she could have a happy ending.

Then she shakes her head, trying to bring sense to herself. Didn't she learn her lesson the first time? She pinches her cheeks, trying to wake herself from her daydreams and mutters, _"It's not true."_

* * *

Kirito sees her leaving, and thinks this is suspicious. He stops her before she can get out of the door. "Do you have kendo practice today?"

She shakes her head, not meeting his eyes. "No."

"Is there something going on for school?"

"No."

He raises an eyebrow again. "Are you meeting up with Recon?"

Her face goes red, and he can tell it's a lie when she says, "No."

But now he decides that he should let her figure it out on her own.

* * *

She's nervous, which is weird. Why should she be nervous? All she's doing is meeting up with Shinichi-kun. She's not even sure why she lied to Kirito. She just couldn't bring herself to say it, for some reason.

She waits, and tries to quiet her thrumming heart. She tries to dispel her anxiety, but it's no use. She knows for sure now that, just like the first time she felt this way, she can't avoid her feelings.

She sees him, and he's stunning. The first time she laid eyes on him, she didn't believe he was anything special. In fact, he seemed decidedly _not-special_, not anything above average at all. He's always been scrawny and fidgety and nervous, from the day she asked him to teach her to play VRMMORPGs to now. But he's always had that smile too, the one that now makes her heart flutter in her chest. And somehow he's transformed in her mind to someone so incredibly important and wonderful.

He runs to her, and he doesn't look like he's afraid she'll punch him (which, in all fairness, he sometimes does.) And when he's looking at her, she feels like a ray of sunshine has fallen upon her.

He's right before her—this boy who was once so fearful, who has become so brave and one of her best friends. He looks like he wants to take her hands, but he hesitates. Rightfully so, since the one time he tried to kiss her, she sent him flying. Her eyes soften, and she beams, taking his hands.

This time, she admits it.

_"I like you too."_

* * *

_A/N: Hullo! I've been getting really into SAO again, what with the new season and all, and I have noticed the astonishing lack of Recon. I mean, Liz, Silica, Sugu, and even Klein have returned, but our favourite grasshead is no where to be seen!  
So, I wrote this little story. It's short, and not the greatest thing I've ever written, but that was the point. I wanted it to be really blunt. And yes, a bit of a headcannon on my part. (& the song at the beginning is "Begin Again" by Taylor Swift. I like putting song-blurbs into my scatterbrained one-shots...)_

_BUT, this story is just an eensy bit special, because it's not only the FORTIETH story I've written, but today marks the second year that I have been haunting Fanfiction like the little ghostie I am! Though I think most of my followers chose to follow me for my ridiculous amounts of Pokespe fics, this was what I had inspiration for, and so, here it is. _

_So here's to the new season of SAO! Here's to my two years on Fanfiction and forty stories!_

_Rant over! Thank you for reading!_

_-Silvia_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online, or anything else.**


End file.
